Someone’s in the Kitchen

Get your goat at Dr. Field Goods Kitchen

There’s more than one way to cook a goat, and Josh Gerwin probably knows them all.

Gerwin, formerly of Casa Vieja in Corrales, recently made the jump from food-truck proprietor [food, July 4, 2012: “Truckin’”] to Cerrillos Road restaurateur. (Truck fans, don’t worry: it’s parked right outside the restaurant and, Gerwin says, will make reappearances for special events.)

Despite its location in the unassuming strip mall next to Jackalope, the new Dr. Field Goods Kitchen manages to be both airy and homey, with potted herbs adorning the tables and an open-concept layout that allows you to watch as Gerwin works his, um, magic.

“The other night, people were watching me butcher the goat,” he says, grinning.

When he gets a goat, he’ll post the news on Facebook. His fans know to head to the restaurant as quickly as possible: “The first person to order it,” he says, gets one of the limited delicacies—six ribeyes and two tenderloins.

With the remainder, Gerwin cooks up homemade Italian sausage—the same recipe he uses for pork, he says, but “much leaner”—and seasoned barbacoa; he renders goat fat to make aioli.

The sandwich (which my extremely discerning man-friend later dubs the Best Sandwich Ever) embodies Gerwin’s philosophy of sourcing locally as much as possible, and getting back to the original “field goods” ingredients.

“I’m getting the whole animal, and I’m using the whole animal—and it’s all in that sandwich,” he says.

Ninety percent of the menu is gluten-free (he thickens soups with rice, not flour), Gerwin says, and he steers clear of extra oils when cooking.

“I do pretty healthy food; it’s all homemade and fresh,” he says. “But there’s still fried food and cheese.”

Indeed, the menu ranges from a light but filling quinoa salad ($5) to a sumptuous Philly cheesesteak ($12). Cold pints of beer pair nicely with either, but the restaurant also offers fresh, made-to-order ginger ale and lemonade ($1.75) or French press coffee ($2.50-$4.50).

In keeping with the theme, classic rock ballads play softly in the background as Gerwin and his team slice mozzarella and feed pizzas into the wood-fired oven in the center of the room. As I’m getting up to leave—having managed to consume half a beer and less than half of the goat sandwich, I’m completely stuffed—Gerwin stops me to make one last point: “I just want to have fun.”